What's the point? Toyota's Scion tC isn't as much fun as the brand's real sports coupe, the FR-S that was jointly developed with Subaru.

It isn't as stylish as FR-S. And if you're a typical sporty-coupe buyer who can't help adding the big wheels, hot-rod exhaust and super-handling suspension, then it's not hugely cheaper than FR-S.

From where Toyota sits, the point's clear: Since the youth-oriented Scion brand was launched in 2003, 75% of its buyers have been new to Toyota, it says.

As a coupe, tC helps keep the brand's image youthful. And it is a brand stalwart at 26% of Scion sales last year, a bit ahead of the FR-S.

And, dang it, we like the tC. Not instead of the FR-S. Never. FR-S is very high on our list.

But judged in a vacuum, tC is appealing. It's not one of those cars that makes you feel as if you'd need to sell it and buy something else if you happened to wind up with one. You know, like if Grandma wants something flashier to resume her gig as the Little Old Lady from Pasadena (as in the Jan & Dean 1960s hit: "She dives real fast and she drives real hard; she's the terror of Colorado Boulevard"), and passes down her tame tC daily driver to you.

It could happen.

In which case, good for you.

Yes, we read our own coverage and know that we reported last week that the tC is on Consumer Reports' "cars to avoid" list. But in our running around we experienced neither the unduly hard ride nor lack of brio CR cites.

Main changes for 2014 tC:

What the automaker describes as "more assertive styling." A too-big grille and other furbelows, as we see it.

Modified six-speed automatic with features that make the manual mode more fun. Agree.

Suspension upgrades for crisper, tighter handling. Yep.

Optional TRD "performance exhaust" as on the test car ($699 for a loud, flatulent sound that might make the car faster, but we have no baseline for comparison).

In the end, the 2014 tC's appeal isn't necessarily the car or the features, but how the package is executed: simply.

Simple is good. Say that until you believe it, all you folks designing gee-whiz cars of the future.

The one missing feature on the test car was a back-up camera; not available, period. Under consideration for the future, but no details from Scion.

It's such a common item that we forget it isn't standard. Should be. It helps a lot in tight parking spots and keeps you from backing over tricycles and other things you can't see by just turning around and looking back.

People looking to dismiss tC have ammo:

Styling's a tad stale.

Vegas-by-night interior party lighting, so beloved nowadays, is nowhere in sight.

It's not the latest thing; no buzz in contrast to the FR-S.

But outweighing those, tC is a small coupe with commendable rear legroom.

And its front seats aren't divided by one of those cathedral monuments to nothingness that pass for center consoles in today's rigs. There's a console with sufficient room for most people most of the time.

In return for eschewing a wide console, you get unusual horizontal legroom that lets you drive splay-legged for comfort on never-ending road trips across Ohio.

Pretty nice feature in a small car, or any car. We hopped between the tC test car and another much larger vehicle just to see if the leg-flop space was an illusion. Nope. The bigger car, a typical modern design, was more crowded for sideways leg space.

Seat comfort was just OK, but that's better than lumpy or ill-shaped, or overly endowed with lumbar intrusion.

The engine's power — if you can put up with the "blaaaaat" from the TRD exhaust — moves the coupe briskly enough to feel sporty and to ease anxiety merging onto freeways. Test Drive didn't feel starved for scoot.

The car's trim size means even tall drivers are barely an arm's length from the dashboard and center-stack controls. Reach and you shall find. Climate controls are three big knobs, easy to find, absurdly easy to manipulate. Well-done, Scion.

Infotainment did a good job mating with Test Drive's too-hip Windows phone, and remembered it each time back in the car.

Perhaps this all sounds like damning tC with faint praise, but we hope not. The Scion reminded us of how satisfying a car can be when it's not overdone.

About the 2014 Scion tC:

What? Update of the small, front-drive, two-door coupe that is Scion's best seller.

When? On sale since June.

Where? Made at Toyota's Tsutsumi plant in Japan.

How much? Starts at $19,965, including $755 shipping. Easy to option up to $26,000-plus. Test car was $26,066.